Grain drier and cleaner



July 1, 1930 F. A. JAMISON 1,769,345

' GRAIN DRIER AND CLEANER Filed Feb. 8, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV July. I, 1930,; F. A. JAMISON 1,769,345

GRAIN DRIER AND CLEANER Filed Feb. 8, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet '2 INVENTOIIQL. 7 1K Cfar'rzz'aaza ATTORNEZS:

July 1, 1930. F. A. AMISQN 1,769,345

GRAIN DRIER AND CLEANER Filed Feb- 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I N VEN TOR.

} 7 BY i ATTORNEY.

" Patented July 1 193% FRED A7..JAMISO1F,'-OF-EASTINICOLAUS, cniiIFoanIA-i GRAIN DR ER Ann CLEANER v Application'filed February s, 1928. saia 7N0. 252,829.

This invention relates to apparatus for drying and cleaning .graina'nd analogous 'material. j

' The principal objects Iof the invention-are f: 5 to produce'an' apparatus of theabove kind so constructed as; to make it possible to clean and "dry large quantities of qnaterial expeditiously and economically; and 'to produce such an apparatus Which occupies a 1 comparatively small space and can be built and operated at a coinparativelyrsmall ex .ense. e e

a Y A still further object is toimprovelgrain drying and cleaning apparatus in the struc l tural respects; hereinafter particularly described vand set forth in the claim. i In :the accompanying dravvings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of' a grain drier and cleaner embodylng the presentinvention, partly brokenavvay and lII SQCtIOH; V

:Figure 2 1s a side elevation looking toward the right of Figure 1; i

v I Figure 3 is a fragmentary sideelevation lookingtoward the'left'of Figure 1;;

, Figure v6 is an enlarged fragmentaryfdetail sectional view showing the separator shaker screens provided between the feed hopper and the upper drying' chamberjand Figure-7 is a sectional perspectiveview of the feed roller'fordischarging the grain from the feed hopper. l

Referring more in ings, the present invention, briefly stated includes a suitablefranie 5' constructed to provide an upright or vertical shaft having a feed hopper 6 at the top thereof, a pair of vsuperposed upright drying chambers 7 and'8 through which the material is adapted to descend When fed from the hopper 6,

means located as generally indicated at 9;

"between the feed hopper and the upper dry- Zing -chamber.7jfor removing the-phafi and detail to l the draw lighter particles ifronrthegrain as well as removing larger and smaller*heaVi'er par- Q ticles from zthe grain before it passes into said upper-drying chamber, and relay-cool ing'shakerscreens locatedxas generally in- 155 dicated at '10 between the" upper and lower drying-chambers .7 and 811 ,By' thusysuccessivel-y passing ther'grain through two drying chambers,. itwhasbeen :found' that the dryit ing' operation I can "be effectively accoin' plished Pin a much shorter period "than-ate tained by "passing the grainthrough a single drying chamber.

7 'As shown, the hopper (S -extends from i l to side of the frame and is provided Witha s top inlet nearone-end as at ll. Communi-V eating with one 7 end of an open bottom con veyor'l2 Wh1ch extends from side to side of the hopper." )In this way the hopper *is adapted to receive the grain from a'n'ele- :vator, and vthe grain is uniformly deiive'red 7 across or distribu tedifrom end to end ofthe I hopper. As shown, the-conveyor l21 einbodies-a suitable conveying element, preferably consisting of a shaft 13 having aprofl- 5 jecting end provided with a drive pulleylla and jequipped with :a :helical conveying element or-blade -15. Thex'hopper 6 "hasa forwardly sloping bottom Wall 16 and "is provided atits forward lower portion with a' .80 plurality of dischargedv openings 17 through :Which the grain asffed positively 'andaat a predetermined speed byineans of pocketed I feed 'rollersl8 disposed in 'spaced'pend to I end relation upon a drive shaft 19 which hasfzp an end projecting 'beyond'one. end of the hopper 6' and equipped wit-ha ,dri'te wpulley 20. The cleaning an'dseparating nieans located-as at 9 beneaththe hopper 6 andabove the'upper dryingchamber Tembodies a pain-;

of shaker screens'21 and :22 provided with"; o" crankand linkactuating mechanism 323,24. I I

Locatedabovethe forward end of the upper shaker screen 21 is an .air discharge nozzle 725 ar'rangedto discharge into the fiaiedlfor 1 2 Ward end of a 'Wide flatand horizontally disposeddischarge tube 26. Thcadjacent "ends of the nozzle '25 and tube 26 are disposed in spaced relation respectively in front and atthe rear of the hopper discharge 1G9 opening 17 so that as the grain is discharged from the hopper onto the upper shaker screen'21, the air discharged from the nozzle will blow the chafl' out through the discharge tube26 where it maybe caught and Collected by any suitable means. The foraminous bottom of the upper shaker screen 21'has openings of suchsize as to permit,

the ready passage therethrough of grain of standard size larger heavy particles being retained and ultimately bein discharged at the rear end of the shaker'screen 21 through a spout 27. On the other hand, 'the openings in the foraminous bottom of the lower shaker screen 22 are of such size as to only permit passage therethrough of heavy particles smaller than the standard size-grain,

and arranged beneath the shaker screen 22 is an inclined chute 28 adapted to convey these smaller particles from the apparatus or to the front thereof'where they may be suitably collected. It is thus apparent that substantially the'only remaining material will be standard size grain upon the screen 22, which will be ultimately discharged the rear end of the shaker screen 22 or to a forwardly inclined chute 29. An open bottom conveyor 80 18 arranged llOlTlZOlliTit beneath the chute 28 in position to receive the standard sized and cleaned grain from the chute 29, and this conveyor 30 extends from side to side of the vertical shaft so as to deliver the grain across the top of the upper drying chamber 7 From the open bottom conveyor 30 the cleaned grain is discharged and uniformly distributed at the top o the drying chamber 7, through which said grain is adapted to descend'by gravity, as will be apparent.

' Arranged horizontally in each of the drying chambers 7 and8 and extending fronr sideto side of thellatter are a pluralityof staggered foraminous or perforated air nozzles- 31 through which heated l air is discharged against the descending grain'for drying the latter more or less. Theseair discharge nozzles receive their supply of hot air as will be presently describech and asclearly shown in Figure 4, these nozzles are of triangular form in cross section so as to present downwardly diverging walls and act as battles for deflecting thefallinggrain and spreading it throughout the area of the drying chamber for most effective action of the heated air thereon; The chambers and 8' are provided at the front and rear with V foraminous or screened walls as at 32to p eromit the free exit of the air asit'is supplied from the nozzles and8.

The cooling shaker screens 33 located one 31 into "the chambers 7 above the other as generally indicated at 10, are provided with suitable crank and link actuating mechanism 84, 35, and the openo. lngs in the foraminous bottom wallsof these shaker screens are of suiiicient sizeto permit the standard sized grain falling therethrough from one to the other and from the lower shaker screen 33 into the lower drying chamber 8.' However, the shaker screens 33 act to retard the descending grainand retain it for a period of cooling while being shaken and relayed from the upper drying chamber to the lower drying chamber. Such small amount of particles which are larger than and may have adhered. to the grain until after passing through the upper drying chamber 7 may find their way off'of the opposite ends of the screens 33 for being discharged from the apparatus through the spouts 36..

It is particularly noted that when the chaff is blown from the grain through the dis charge tube 26, a small amount of moisture will be initially extracted from the grain and when the grain passes through the upper drying chamber 7 a further extraction 'pleted so that the grain will be in proper condition for storage, milling or the like when discharged from the lower heating or drying chamber 8; i V I p The lower drying chamber 8 is provided r with downwardly converging bottom walls '37 providing discharge opening38 adjacent their lower meeting edges through which the dried grain may pass from the grain being suitably controlled by an adjustable gate '39 associated with the opening 88. A' suitable spiral conveyor 40 is disposed beneath the'opening 38 transversely of the apparatus for conveying the dried grain to a desired point of discharge or dlsposal. As shown, the various driven parts may be suitably belted or 3 geared together for being driven from a common powershaft 41 provided'with a drive pulley 42. a I i Located at oneside of the upright shaft is a vertical manifold 43 connected at its lower'drying chamber 8, the flow of the lower endto a pipe 44 leading from a suitabe source of hot air under pressure. Ob

-vi;ously,this pipe 44 may lead from a blowor which receives its supply of air from'an air heating furnace, the'proper temperature of the air being maintained in connection with the observation of a thermometer 45 provided upon the manifold 43. The mani fold 43'is provided with numerous branch 'outletlpipes 46, each of whichleads to one of the air nozzles 31v and is provided with a suitable regulating valve 47 for controlling the flow of air to and through the nozzle 31. In a like manner, the nozzle 25 receives its supply of air from the manifold 43 as is shown clearly in Fig. 2. The'manifold 4:3 is open at its upper end so that excess hot air may be discharged therefrom; said end of the manifold being equipped with a valve 48 for use in regulating the I discharge of air from the manifold and consequently regulating the air pressure therein. Obviously, by properly timingthe speed of operation of the several parts such as the feed rollers 18, conveyors 12 and 40, and shaker screens 21, 22 and 33, thespeed of i 15 operation may be properly adjusted to in sure thorough drying of the grain while at the same time carrying out the drying operation in a most expeditious manner. Minor changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. 7

What I claim as new is V A grain cleaner and drier comprising an upright shaft through which the grain 5 passes during the cleaning and drying operation, said shaft having a feed hopper at its upper end, vibrating .screens'below said hopper, means for blowing a current ofair over the grain during the screening thereof to separate the chaff, means for discharging the removed chafi} a heating'and drying chamber below said screens,- into which the separated grain is discharged'and distributed, vibrating screens below said chambers upon which the partially heated and dried grain is discharged, and by which the grain is subjected to air cooling, a second heating and drying chamber below said screens through which the grain is passed and means 40 for discharging the grain from the bottom of the shaft.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FREDA. JAMISON. 

